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| Thread: Shootings at Middletown High |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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ruby
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crazed swede
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posted August 24, 2006 05:55 PM |
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Edited by ruby at 18:16, 24 Aug 2006.
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Shootings at Middletown High
A true story of true chaos.
It starts in a calm town called Middletown, a small town occupied by mostly the common jock, the rich neighborhoods and the poor neighborhoods. Everything seems peaceful like in any other town, but a war is being fought inside two young boys.
Gary Searle and Brendan Lawlor were inseparable, but they were doing so much more together then just playing video games. They were planning revenge, a sweet revenge on the football players. The football players would never let them sleep. They had been called every name in the book and could not walk down the hall without getting pushed into the lockers or called a "snow." This happened every day, for almost three years. Brendan was beaten several times, thrown to the ground, given swirlies, etc. But he refused to take action because being skinnier and weaker then those boys, he knew he needed something else.
Then the night of the dance came. All the jocks, the preps, and the semi-popular people all gathered up in the school, casually hanging out when they suddenly heard gunshots in the ceiling. They looked to see two boys dressed in camo with ski masks on and they were claiming that bombs had been booby trapped by every door, they thought it was a joke. Then, the first bomb went of...and then one of them shot their principal in the chest.
The students were forced to lay down on their stomachs on the floor, and the stronger jocks had their hands secured behind their backs with plastic wire. They were soon revealed to be Brendan and Gary. There was constant fear, screaming and yelping as their principal was bleeding on the floor.
Brendan thought it to be time and went over to Sam Flach, one of the jocks that had beaten him up before, his most horrid enemy. Brendan had planned how to kill him for a very long time. His gruesome revenge had been written in emails, instant messaging, etc.(But of course, no one but Gary knew he was serious).
Brendan shot Sam Flach in both knee caps. The reason? He wanted him to die a slow, cripple death. He wanted to crush his dreams of football, just as Sam had crushed his dreams of ever being anything.
Suddenly, Allison, a girl who Gary had dated on and off and were still close friends with, came up from behind a table. She was afraid and even though she hated the jocks just as much, she didn't want Sam or any other person to have to die. Gary didn't want Allison to be shot so he began to argue with Brendan. Brendan, being the more violent and rash one, yelled at him for a long time as the police began to pry a video camera into the room.
Meanwhile, chaos was still happening. A girl who was friends with Sam gathered up some stupid courage and began to yell at him fiercly. Brendan walked up to her and held the barrell of the gun to her head and her neck but luckily and shockingly, he did not shoot her.
Allison had now gotten up and began to help Sam who was still conscious but barely alive. She took off her belt and tied it around his thigh like a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. She went to another jock and asked for his belt and even though he saw what she was trying to do, he responded with an inappropriate, crude answer that made my stomach sick. She took his belt anyway, ignoring his rudeness and did the same thing. Brendan saw what she was doing an he pointed the gun at her, saying he'd shoot her but she knew he wouldn't.
That was when Gary had had enough. He sat down in a corner and took off his mask. Putting the gun to his head, he pulled the trigger.
Everyone screamed. Someone had died.
Then, a jock who was Brendan's neighbor and friend, jumped up and tackled down Brendan who fell to the floor, dropping the weapon. But that was when chaos actually started.
Six other jocks jumped up to their feet and threw the other jock off of Brendan and began to beat him. They beat him so badly, smashing his face in, breaking his body...I can almost see it. I have nightmares thinking about this. Meanwhile, someone was running around with nail clippers trying to release everyone but everyone then began to run for the doors, the doors that were boobytrapped still.
The cops ended up getting in somehow and freed the student, taking Sam and the principal to the hospital. Brendan, he wasn't exactly rushed there. He had been put straight into a coma and the beatings had made him brain dead as well. He died a week later.
I know you're probably wondering if I'm just making this up, but every word I've said has been true. This school shooting happened in 1990 and there is only one reason: Bullying.
People come to my school (and possibly yours too) and speaks about bullying every year. I remember people mocking it, laughing about it, and I'm sure I did too. But as my mind begins to go back to my previous school years, I can see an indescribable amount of bullying happening all around me. It wasn't until three years ago that I stopped hanging with the in crowd and became more laid back in the drama department. We weren't mocked, ever. But I know people that did.
This story can be found in full in "Give a Boy a Gun" by Todd Strasser. It is a book that is made up completely by snips of people's stories, people that were there. Allison wrote in it. Other close friends of Brendan's and Gary's wrote in it. The principal who was shot wrote in it, and many other teachers. Even Sam and the other jocks wrote in it, and most of the things I read by them made me cringe. It's like...the lesson wasn't thoughht yet.
When I read the suicide notes for both boys, it pained me. It made me feel ashamed of writing my own suicide notes and plotting to take my own life before. Gary had gone through hell and back in a divorce with his parents, and abandoned by his dad at a young age, he didn't cope well and was always quiet and kind, taking the bullying a lot more easily then Brendan. Brendan came from a calm family but being skinny and supposedly "weird" he was gold to the jocks.
The jocks wrote in this book that Brendan was almost asking for it.
Was Brendan asked to be beat up, because he opened the door for a cheerleader at a party? Well...that's what happened to him.
He comes to school the next day and the principal wrote in the book that he saw that he had been beaten and he knew Sam had done it, but it was off school property so it wasn't his authority. What kind of a principal is that?
Later on, this man claims that the reason they always raise up the jocks in front of everyone else in school, is to give them more spirit. Well...doesn't the drama club need some spirit too? Or the National GPA award? No, he claims that if he gave them that kind of significance HE WOULD BE OUT OF A JOB. Well you know what. I think this guy is a jerk. I think this guy should be out of a job. I think he shouldn't be allowed to handle kids. There were so many times the teachers saw the jocks constanty picking on Brendan but they never did anything. Why? Because the jocks had power.
Another hate symbol for me is their gym teacher. He would firstly call all the jocks, the "good guys," by their first name and the more insignificant people like Brendan and Gary, by their last. There was one day where they were playing flag football and he intentionally set Sam and Brendan up to demonstrate and Sam body checked him so hard he was thrown to the ground. The gym teacher laughed and said playfully, "There is no tackling in flag football." Sam shrugged and laughed, "Sorry coach," he said sarcastically.
Later on, they threw Ryan, a close friend to both boys, into a mud puddle and the gym teacher tried not to laugh. He did not even tell the boys to never do it again. He didn't punish. Nothing. He simply told Ryan to clean up. This man, I carry just as much hate for.
In this book, I read that Sam and the other jocks were constantly trying to defend themselves. I felt that to be the most rudeset thing to do in a situation like this. They said that everyone gets picked on every once in a while, that they should've learned to take it, that football and bullying can't be a reason for this, that the boys were asking for it...etc. Well, I firstly feel that jocks should not be overemphasized like they were. They were never given detentions, suspensions, no matter what they chose to do. They were given free things, smiled at...while the boys that watched them from afar, were laughed at.
I hate this.
I sob as I write this. My hands shake at the thought of this happening anywhere. I see it every day and I could've done something. I could've, but I haven't. I remember it still, in 7th grade, a friend of mine, Chase, committed suicide. He was a wonderful artist, a friendly boy, good at sports, good grades. But why...? It was 7th grade. He had so much ahead of him.
I know what death looks like. I know what it feels like to want to kill someone so badly...to make up for all the pain. I have that yearning sometimes, but I know I could never do it. I know I would change my mind as soon as I looked at the weapon. I'm not murder material. It sickens me.
But what I see most gruesome in this story, is that Brendan and Gary came to see suffering to make up for their three years. Sam Flach was suffering all right. The principal even stated he did not feel much pain at all. There was fear. That was it. Gary backed down and took his own life but everyone still focused on Sam, like he was the unfortuntate one. Bull crap. Buuull crap.
They beat Brendan to death. I have nightmares about it. I can see him, this little skinny boy who was too scared to kill that girl, too scared to kill anyone, being kicked, thrown, punched...he was mangled. It hurts so badly to see pictures like that in my head. I can see his face completely deformed...his body twisted, and to add onto the pain...his parents were watching this happen from the cameras.
The real murderers. Were those six boys.
You may say, "Well they only wanted to protect the remaining students" or "Brendan got what he deserved." Well. Then you obviously don't know this pain and should't be talking. One jock was pinning Brendan down, there was no way that Brendan could get back up, being as weak and skinny as he was. There was no need to beat him into a coma, but they did it. They were filled with this dark hate that they were shunning Brendan for. They were complete hypocrites. Sam wrote that he would never forgive those two boys. Well Sam, I don't forgive you either.
I feel so strongly in issues like this for some reason. Maybe it's because I'm still in high school and have battled seeing my friends in similar situations, or maybe it's because I love the weaker. I'm not saying that all jocks are like this, but there is always a group like that at every school, even though it may not have a football team. I just hate the fact that even though people saw their pain, the teachers saw them getting hurt and being thrown around...no one read the warning signs. These boys planned this since high school began. They died as sophmores. It makes my stomach twist and turn.
Some teachers actually began to blame video games for this. Brendan and Gary would often play games like DOOM when they got home from school to take out their anger on the boys that would harass them. The teachers say that by playing this game and other hand to hand combat games, the boys were influenced into doing the school shooting. Well it may have influenced, but that's defiantely not the reason. I know tons of people, including myself, that plays DOOM and other gruesome games...and we're not shooting anyone. It's about the mindset of the boys playing it. Gary asked his mom if he could get a gun. He was a sophmore. If that wasn't a warn sign to pull the plug in his playstation for a while, then I don't know what. I am not blaming the parent, I really am not. I can't imagine the pain, because I know that age in a boy. If you want to hide something, you really can, inculding games like that.
As strange as it may sound, I would do anything to meet Brendan and Gary. I want to go back in time, find them, and just...I don't even know what I would say. I would say that, someone cares. I know they had their friends but they never wrote about being more intimate and deeper with each other. That's what they both needed. I just want to hold them and tell them that there's someone out there for both of them, that I care even though I don't know them. I can't imagined being pushed about every day and then...I just can't grasp this.
I know that even though I didn't know them, I will cry every time I think about these two boys, boys that were ruined and caused ruin themselves. I am not in any way supporting the school shooting. All I am saying...is that it wasn't an accident, that these boys suddenly just became crazy. No. It goes deeper then that.
If you're here to bash, please leave. I'm not going to take it. This is a discussion, not a debate to see what side was right and what side was wrong. In this case, there is no right and wrong. Leave it at that.
All my information was taken straight from the mouths of students in Middletown high, student that were there. You can read it all in the book Give a Boy a Gun, by Todd Strasser.
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JoonasTo
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What if Elvin was female?
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posted August 24, 2006 07:29 PM |
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Edited by JoonasTo at 19:30, 24 Aug 2006.
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A sad, sad story ...
And I think I have heard it before just can't remember where.
About the bullying:
They should have done something about it in the first place and not let it to continue and develop. After all teachers are supposed to be the protectors and role-models so why didn't they interfere? Were they scared of the jocks? Or did they all thinks the jocks had the right to bully the weaker(like the coach)?
Because the teachers are persons who could stop things like these 'cause the bullied people don't have the guts to speak to them so they have to speak to the bullied people.
I know this because I was bullied when I was in 2nd grade(8 years old) and when the teachers ignored it quess what happened? I started taking karate lessons and in 4th grade(11 years old. it was spring brake) I beated my bullyers up...badly, but they never bullied me again.
That was a bad scenario but still better than the one that ruby posted. In my case the school learned and their anti-bully activity raised to new levels.
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russ
Promising
Supreme Hero
blah, blah, blah
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posted August 24, 2006 07:32 PM |
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Edited by russ at 19:37, 24 Aug 2006.
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Very impressive post. I am 100% with you here.
I've accidentally stumbled upon some forum. Some guy described a party they were having somewhere. Some outsider came and since they wanted him to leave, a "well-liked guy" stabbed him "just to make him bleed and to show him his place". Noone tried to help the guy, noone even thought that what had happened was bad. The guy was told to f*** off, get in his car and leave. He did exactly that and died on the way to a hospital. Now, why was the author of this post posting this? Because he felt remorse? Because he felt that he should have done something? NO! He wrote this because he was mad that because of some "snitch", his good friend and a "well-liked guy" will have to do time! What were the responses to that? THE PEOPLE AGREED WITH HIM!!! Just like in your story where the people cheer for those jock murderers and Sam and hate the victims.
I think this is also a result of a big problem with the society. People respect power. People like power. Unfortunately, this is what the American society is centered around. From the lowest classes to the highest classes in society it is all about power and disregard for other people. If you are poor, you beat someone up or shoot someone to be respected and popular. If you are rich, you walk over people, you scam, you do the most unethical business decisions to reach the top where, once again, everyone will cheer for you because "you've acheived so much".
If the jocks knew they would get shunned and become unpopular if they bullied someone, would they ever bully someone? I don't think so. But as long the society keeps rewarding them for being heartless ***holes, they'll keep bullying.
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 24, 2006 08:02 PM |
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JoonasTo-
I know that it seems like things may have been easier if Brendan and Gary had told a teacher or a parent, but the thing is that the teachers saw this happen and didn't do anything about it. So what would it do if they told their teachers? Gary wrote that he refused to talk to his mom because she was in too much pain as it was and Brendan didn't comment on it. Maybe things would've eased down, but I guess we'll never know. My experience with friends is that it only gets worse telling authority like teachers. Most kids resort to violence and drugs but, and some even change schools to get away from bullying.
I'm sorry that you were bullied, I truly am. I don't really know in depth how it feels. It was mental torture when rumors like, I was a lesbian, and I was a snow, were going around school. But it only lasted for a few months. Then it was just left alone. Other then that, I am never bullied.
Resorting to violence may be the worst, but then again, easiest way to solve it. I mean, you didn't kill him. I guess that's what counts. I'm not even sure how to solve it because no one should have to run away from stuff like that, and obviously not have to hide it. I really don't know...and truly...I wish did.
Russ-
People like that make me sick, I mean, really sick.
The inhuman ways of the caveman are beginning to show, even though we've hit 2006. It's gross to hear what some people have to say but you really begin to wonder what they're thinking about when it happens. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to know...that I was involved in someone's death. How crude is that? It's so mind boggling!
I had a friend once that was a real charmer. I'll just call him Nick. He seemed to like my company after about a year of knowing each other quite closely and one night he told me that if I ever need to put someone in the hospital, he'd do it for me. I thought he was joking, but a month later, I find out that he was thrown in jail for nearly beating a man to death with a metal pipe. He is out now, after 3 years. He was 17 when it happened. He told me about it, explaining it in detail, and he was proud as all heck. I was so angry with him and told him what an ignorant jerk he was being, and we haven't spoken since. Its been two years. I am ashamed of him, I truly am.
See, it's that jock thing that I really dislike. We have spirit day at my school and we're told to wear our colors. Honestly, I don't, because I think it's horridly stupid. But I don't mock them, I don't laugh at them for wearing their colors, I dont do anything like that, but still...people like me get it constantly. And yes, it's like you said, they want power and they have it.
I think the reason I was never bullied is because I am part of that rich society that you speak of. My parents are very wealthy, I live in a (too)large house in a rich neighborhood, I drive a sports car, and I get basically everything I want. But I don't like being known as the rich kid. I don't look down on people, I would never, and I would never stomp on people. I do in fact defend people that are bullied, but I never get any crap thrown back at me. It is true what they say about rich kids. And I hate that. I'd like for them to fling something in my face every now and then so I can really know what Brendan and Gary felt like. Right now, I feel a bit more like a rich selfish brat and that's not what I want to be.
Society feels like it's glued to it's standards, keeping the rich kids comfortable. I really dislike it, but what is there to do when there is no escape from reality? I am still young and I am stuck where I am at the moment, and I try not to complain, but when you read about these things and maybe even see them, it begins to take root in your mind, reminding us all how cruel this world can be.
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JoonasTo
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What if Elvin was female?
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posted August 24, 2006 08:57 PM |
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@ruby:
I didn't say that the boys should have gone to the teachers. I said the teachers should have gone to the boys.(I know my english isn't that good so misunderstandings are expected )
Teachers in the school seemed to belong in the "silent accepters" group and the coach in the "cheering" group. Both of these groups accept the bullying. The names come from our anti-bully programs here in Finland.
@Russ:
About having the power, that is something I have had a taste of from the reason that I noted in my previous post. The fear and "respect" is intoxicating and if you have experienced you know it is also frightening when people just agree with everything you say and try not to piss you of.
There are always many different things that lead to these sad events but in all cases I have seen there has been one thing that they have had incommon and that has been ignorance about other people.
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 24, 2006 09:10 PM |
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JoonasTo-
All right, just a misunderstanding then.
Yeah our bullying programs always get out of hand. They're mocked. No one really takes them seriously, except of course the bullied.
Do you see it working in Finland?
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JoonasTo
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What if Elvin was female?
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posted August 24, 2006 09:18 PM |
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Sometimes but mostly no. But if it works even in a minority of cases it is worth it.
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 24, 2006 09:33 PM |
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That is very true. Sadly, there has been no change at our school, at least not a noticeable one. It's depressing, really, but I try not to think too much of it, knowing that I can really only be there to support the ones that are picked on a lot.
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Binabik
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posted August 24, 2006 10:01 PM |
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That's a great post Ruby. For now, no comments about it. But here's another short story.
At the end of grade 8, my gym teacher came to me and told me about a new program he was starting next year, wondering if I was interested. Rather than a standard gym class which met 2-3 days a week, there would be a gym class during lunch hour which was longer and it would meet 5 days a week. It would be held outdoors regardless of the weather....heat, rain, or freezing cold. We would run a mile the start of every class. Every Friday we would test for push-ups, pull ups, running, etc. And the top 6 students would compete in a statewide compitition. Also once per week, a "Charger of the week" was chosen, with lots of cheers and slaps on the back for whomever was chosen that week. His name was annouced over the intercom the next morning.
The class was mostly jocks, but not all. There was a fat kid who was the type who couldn't do 5 push-ups in gym class. But he joined this class for reasons of his own, whatever they might be. Every day, when we went for the run, he came straggling in 10 minutes after everyone else. Sometimes the activity for the day had already started without him. When he got back from the run, he would join the activities, with no rest. He finished the run, always. He joined the activities, always. Through the course of the year, everyone was chosen as "Charger of the week" at least once. When it came time for Richard, the fat kid, to be chosen, he got the loudest cheers and the most slaps on the back of anyone....and they were sincere. Richard deserved it more than anyone. He never gave up. He never quit. And when it came time for his moment of glory....well, you can speculate on how he must have felt.
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 24, 2006 10:10 PM |
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Such a wonderful story! I am surprised and glad that someone posted something happy.
Things like that light the world just a little bit more, and it sounds to me like the jocks at your school are far from what they are in Middletown. It's very nice to hear that all high schools haven't fallen into that "power craze."
Have you ever seen any type of bullying in your school?
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Binabik
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Legendary Hero
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posted August 25, 2006 12:21 AM |
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Sorry about the delay, something came up.
First, that story was a long time ago (Nixon was president). So I don't know how things are now. There were a couple bullies when I was in elementary school. I don't remember much about them though. The bullying wasn't constant though, it just happened every now and then.
In middle and high school I don't remember any "physical" bullying at all. I'm sure there was some teasing going on that I don't remember. One thing I'm 99% sure of, was that no gym teacher would ever have allowed that sort of thing in or out of class. Yea, the jocks in gym class knew who wasn't good at it, but I don't remember anybody ever saying a word to anyone's face.
As far as I'm concerned, That PE teacher in your story should have his teaching certificate revoked, and possibly face criminal charges.
The teacher in my story, to this day, is very highly regarded when his name is mentioned. He did a lot for the sports program thoughout the school system. We need more like him, and less of the other one.
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 25, 2006 12:58 AM |
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Ah yes. Things have certaintly changed, and not for the better.
I used to live in Sweden but when I grew up, I only remember that we constantly teased each other on and off. We didn't group up on anyone. But when I came back about two years ago, during high school years, it had changed a lot. My friends had broken up a bit and when I was on my way to class, I saw one of my older friends running down the hall with a bloody nose, her shirt torn, and she just looked horrible. She had been cornered and beaten by the other girls, because the suspected that she was a lesbian.
Isn't that sick?
I don't know if the gym teacher got in any form of trouble because the book didn't state so. I think the book really made him look bad though, and I'm sure he was called up by parents, police...etc. That's humiliating enough, and I'll look into it a little bit and see if I can find more detailed articles on the matter.
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Consis
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Of Ruby
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posted August 25, 2006 06:36 AM |
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Edited by Consis at 06:38, 25 Aug 2006.
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It's About Time
You got a Qp Ruby. You're an exceptional poster in my opinion, of whom has been long overlooked. This is one of many posts that you definitely deserve recognition for. Stay sharp in your real life my friend. We need more quality posts from you. Keep coming back with your talent you'll be rewarded, not only with a shiny little star, but many praises to boot. All of which will be well earned.
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Roses Are Red And So Am I
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 25, 2006 04:48 PM |
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QP? Me? That's crazy.
I do enjoy knowing that I am recognized for something other then just spamming, which was the case a few years ago.  But really, honestly and truly, I am not doing this for praise or recognition, friend. I am doing this to recognize these two boys in the story. They deserve it a lot more then I do.
But thank you very much for the praise. I do appreciate some encouragement every once in a while!
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scooter_me
Adventuring Hero
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posted August 27, 2006 09:45 AM |
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my best friend tried to kill himself because of bullying. the good thing about them is they all turned nice by year 10, and we became a year of 77 people and not a single enemy. it makes me sad to read about those boys, because ive seen how it can happen. that first post really pushed my button, cause even when people yell stuff outa car windows at me for having dreadlocks, even something as small and simple as that, makes me angry for the whole day. so reading something like the first post just makes me wana...i duno, resort to violence to defend the weak and misfortunate.
because of the lovely school environment i was in, i was never bullied, but for some reason it pisses me off more than anyone else ive talked to about it.
i tried defending my best friend in the early years by talking to the bullies, and askin them why they do it, and they pretty much said "because he's different"
im glad the jocks of our year were some of the kindest people you could ever meet, so i will never truely understand the first post. but in the current state im in, id probably do some pretty stupid stuff right now if i saw sam 
thanks for your great post Ruby.
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ruby
Promising
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crazed swede
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posted August 27, 2006 04:17 PM |
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I hate to hear that suicide seemed to be his only way out, but I'm sure many of us feel that way as well.
I still don't understand why my friend Chase killed himself, if it was some bullying no one knew about or if he just hated himself. To this day, no one really knows at all.
I completely understand that yelling out of the car thing is. I have the same problem, (or is it really a problem?), where I can get mad or depressed over a really small thing like that. But then again, to some people that are really concerned about how they are and have pretty bad self esteem, like me, then I guess it is a big deal. It has happened where I haven't talked for days because of stuff people have said, and it shouldn't have to be like that for anyone.
Well at least you got something semi reasonable from the jocks that you talked to. All I get was a "Shouldn't you be playing Dragon quest?" or "Where's your girlfriend?" The jocks at my school never bother me unless I ask them to, I guess.
Thanks for the reply!
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Binabik
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Legendary Hero
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posted August 27, 2006 09:42 PM |
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There are a lot of different coins. And for every coin there is a flip side. If you want to make change for a dollar, all the coins are needed.
People are much the same as coins. But the coins are not the different people. The coins are the many things that make a person who he or she is. All the various talents, personalities, social skills and intelligence. Any of the hundreds of things that make up a person. And for every person who is a head, there is a person who is a tail. Unlike coins, with people, there is also everything in between. For every person who is highly athletic, there is a person who is the exact opposite, and everything in between. For every person who has social skills, who are the "popular" people, there is a person who is just the opposite, the person who doesn't say "hi" to anyone when they walk down the hall between classes. For every guy who is a "ladies man", there is a guy who is just the opposite, standing off to the side, yearning with the same desires, but the desires go unfulfilled. There is the intellect and the slow learner. There is the great singer and the person who won't sing "happy birthday" due to embarrassment. For every head there is a tail.
But if you want to make change for a dollar, you need all the coins. Some people might be made up of a lot of heads, but they also have some tails. Most people are made from a lot of the "in between" coins.
The people who are tails might envy the ones who are heads. The Brendans might not envy the Sams, but the Brendans might envy the coin of popularity, or the coin of social skills. Brendan and Sam are really much alike in some ways. They both want to be popular and well liked. It's just that one is better at it than the other. One is a head and one is a tail, but they want much the same thing. And the heads often don't understand the tails. After all, it's so easy for the heads, anyone should be able to do it.
In the story about Richard, I wasn't Richard. I was the guy who went to the state competition. I was the head and Richard was the tail. But what was the coin that Richard had? The gym class was voluntary and if I were in his position, I would have quit, and so would most other people. Whatever coin he had, it was 100% heads. And in the adult world, his coin is much more important than the coin I had.
There are a lot of different coins. Sometimes I look at the coins of others with envy. There is one coin I've envied all my life. I look at a drawing by someone named Ruby or Iris, and think "I wish I could do that". I really really wish I could do that. But I'm a tail.
I'm not Sam, but I can almost picture the Sams of the world. He might have too big of an ego to be caught. But maybe when no one is looking, he walks into a classroom with a piece of paper laying on the desk. He picks it up and sees a drawing. And he thinks to himself "I wish I could do that".
Confidence and the feeling of self worth are not about having a lot of heads. It's about knowing which coins are which. Sam is too insecure to admit he has tails. And he's probably not fooling nearly as many people as he thinks he is.
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2XtremeToTake
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted August 28, 2006 12:56 AM |
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You have to remember that everything isn't always as it seems. Sure, the jocks were snows...But still, everything happens for a reason. Perhaps those other kids did something to deserve it. You can't always take a news report and think you know everything.
However, those football players give the rest of us a bad name. If I or any other football player at my school was caught bullying anyone, even if it was the star Quarterback they'd be running sprints until they threw up.
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I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
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ruby
Promising
Known Hero
crazed swede
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posted August 28, 2006 03:02 AM |
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Oh I know I can't act like I know everything, but do understand that this was not a simple news report. This was a book filled with quotes and stories from people that were there. They're not supporting one side or the other, but are all from different sides. They are either friends of these two boys, teachers, enemies, etc. It's not written by anyone that wasn't there.
I'm not blaming every football player in the world, don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that in a lot of schools out there, there is a lot of problems with bullying. You don't usually see the quiz bowl team or the national honors society bullying. It's usually the kids that have more power.
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The Darker the Sky--
The Brighter the Stars-
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ruby
Promising
Known Hero
crazed swede
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posted August 28, 2006 03:10 AM |
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Quote:
There are a lot of different coins. And for every coin there is a flip side. If you want to make change for a dollar, all the coins are needed.
People are much the same as coins. But the coins are not the different people. The coins are the many things that make a person who he or she is. All the various talents, personalities, social skills and intelligence. Any of the hundreds of things that make up a person. And for every person who is a head, there is a person who is a tail. Unlike coins, with people, there is also everything in between. For every person who is highly athletic, there is a person who is the exact opposite, and everything in between. For every person who has social skills, who are the "popular" people, there is a person who is just the opposite, the person who doesn't say "hi" to anyone when they walk down the hall between classes. For every guy who is a "ladies man", there is a guy who is just the opposite, standing off to the side, yearning with the same desires, but the desires go unfulfilled. There is the intellect and the slow learner. There is the great singer and the person who won't sing "happy birthday" due to embarrassment. For every head there is a tail.
But if you want to make change for a dollar, you need all the coins. Some people might be made up of a lot of heads, but they also have some tails. Most people are made from a lot of the "in between" coins.
The people who are tails might envy the ones who are heads. The Brendans might not envy the Sams, but the Brendans might envy the coin of popularity, or the coin of social skills. Brendan and Sam are really much alike in some ways. They both want to be popular and well liked. It's just that one is better at it than the other. One is a head and one is a tail, but they want much the same thing. And the heads often don't understand the tails. After all, it's so easy for the heads, anyone should be able to do it.
In the story about Richard, I wasn't Richard. I was the guy who went to the state competition. I was the head and Richard was the tail. But what was the coin that Richard had? The gym class was voluntary and if I were in his position, I would have quit, and so would most other people. Whatever coin he had, it was 100% heads. And in the adult world, his coin is much more important than the coin I had.
There are a lot of different coins. Sometimes I look at the coins of others with envy. There is one coin I've envied all my life. I look at a drawing by someone named Ruby or Iris, and think "I wish I could do that". I really really wish I could do that. But I'm a tail.
I'm not Sam, but I can almost picture the Sams of the world. He might have too big of an ego to be caught. But maybe when no one is looking, he walks into a classroom with a piece of paper laying on the desk. He picks it up and sees a drawing. And he thinks to himself "I wish I could do that".
Confidence and the feeling of self worth are not about having a lot of heads. It's about knowing which coins are which. Sam is too insecure to admit he has tails. And he's probably not fooling nearly as many people as he thinks he is.
I envy your way with words. 
I completely agree with you, but I hope it didn't sound like I was trying to defend one side too much. I do feel kind of bad when I think of Sam's broken football career but hey...it was bound to happen when someone is being mistreated like Brendan and Gary were.
Either way, I love the fact that you see this in a different way then I did. It broadens my view!
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The Darker the Sky--
The Brighter the Stars-
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